Attorney General Bonta Secures Guilty Plea and Two-Year Prison Sentence in $400,000 Medi-Cal Fraud Case

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced Maki Martinez-Gruninger pled guilty to a felony charge of defrauding the Medi-Cal program and will serve two years in state prison for stealing more than $400,000 from the State of California through a scheme that exploited a disabled family member. The California Department of Justice (DOJ) received a complaint alleging that Martinez-Gruninger fraudulently claimed to be the In-Home Support Services (IHSS) provider for a disabled family member. According to the complainant — who was the individual's sole caregiver — they discovered in December 2019 that Martinez-Gruninger secretly applied to be the disabled family member's IHSS provider in November 2007. As a result, Martinez-Gruninger allegedly submitted false claims to the IHSS program for over a decade. 

“Let this conviction serve as a clear warning to anyone attempting to defraud Medi-Cal: You will be found out and held fully accountable,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Those who defraud these vital programs are not just breaking the law. They are stealing from taxpayers, endangering patient care, and betraying the public trust. At the California Department of Justice, we will not tolerate it. We will continue to aggressively pursue those who abuse public programs for personal gain and hold them accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

The investigation determined that Martinez-Gruninger unlawfully took the State of California's Medi-Cal program money, intended to defraud the State of California, and presented false IHSS and Respite Care claims for payment totaling $413,643.30. She pled guilty to a single felony count of Medi-Cal false claims. The Division of Medi-Cal Fraud & Elder Abuse (DMFEA) is a division within DOJ whose mission is to protect the public and the state’s Medi-Cal program from those who defraud taxpayers and divert state health care resources. The investigation was made possible through the collaboration of government agencies and those who reported incidences of Medi-Cal fraud or elder abuse. If you suspect Medi-Cal fraud or elder abuse, please report it at https://oag.ca.gov/dmfea/reporting.

DMFEA receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $77,652,892 for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2026.  The remaining 25 percent, totaling $25,884,297 for FFY 2026, is funded by the California Attorney General’s Office. FFY 2026 is from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026.